The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 22, 2024

Composites: Philadelphia (Apertures)

Composites: Philadelphia (Apertures)

1965
(American, 1931–2014)
America, 20th century
gelatin silver prints
Image: 36.5 x 57.7 cm (14 3/8 x 22 11/16 in.); Matted: 71.1 x 81.3 cm (28 x 32 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1986.93
Location: not on view

Description

Between 1964 and 1967, Ray Metzker produced a body of experimental work that explored serial imagery and the grid—concepts that also intrigued painters and sculptors of that time. A montage comprising 240 individual photographs, this urban image abandons the conventional single-frame format for a new pictorial approach. Taken while looking out of or up at buildings in Philadelphia, twelve separate 35 mm negatives are repeated throughout the composite photograph. Sometimes turned or printed in reverse, each negative was contact-printed numerous times to present the viewer with multiple viewpoints. Through repetition, juxtaposition, and sequencing, Metzker suggests the multiplicity and vitality of city life.
  • Cleveland Museum of Art, Tom E Hinson. Catalogue of Photography. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1996. Mentioned and Reproduced: P. 54-55; Reproduced: P. 235
    Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 36 no. 10, December 1996 Mentioned & reproduced: p. 6 archive.org
  • PROOF: Photography in the Era of the Contact Sheet. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 7-November 29, 2020).
    The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (MOCA), Cleveland, OH (June 9-August 20, 2006).
    MOCA Cleveland (6/9/2006 - 8/20/2006): "The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art"
    CMA, November 20,1996 - February 2, 1997: "Legacy of Light: Master Photographs from the Cleveland Museum of Art," see Catalogue of Photography, pp. 54-55.
    Legacy of Light: Master Photographs from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 24, 1996-February 2, 1997).
    CMA, July 10 - August 19, 1990: "The Camera," Classroom Level, no exhibition catalogue.
    Year in Review for 1986. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 4-March 15, 1987).
    CMA, February 4 - March 15, 1987: "Year in Review 1986," CMA Bulletin, 74 (February 1986), p. 65, no. 84, repr. p. 52.
  • {{cite web|title=Composites: Philadelphia (Apertures)|url=false|author=Ray K. Metzker|year=1965|access-date=22 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1986.93